SOLID FOUNDATION

22 November 2013

Andrew Poole

Two clean sheets in a row for O'Donnell...

THE SADDLERS' recent successes have been built on a solid foundation with goalkeeper, Richard O'Donnell keeping two consecutive clean sheets on our way to convincing victories over Shrewsbury Town and Peterborough United.

"Things are going well," said the summer signing. "It's all about keeping clean sheets and I have made a couple of those in the last two games, so hopefully I can maintain that.

"Our last two performances have been really impressive. We've moved the ball around well and defended as a team.

"Against Peterborough we were stronger than them in every department and we could have won by a bigger margin. It was nice to be able to do it in front of the live television cameras and it gives us something to take into Saturday's trip to Crawley.

"We have been able to show a wider audience what we are capable of and the aim now is to carry on the way we have been playing so that we can achieve our targets.

"For me personally it is nice to keep clean sheets, but it also means that the people in front of me are doing their jobs.

"We have a strong squad here; I watched the reserves beat Tranmere 7-2 on Tuesday and that kind of strength in depth will serve us well."

O'Donnell began his career with Sheffield Wednesday and had a series of loan spells before joining Chesterfield, where he spent a year before joining The Saddlers following an impressive trial spell, which included our pre-season trip to Trinidad & Tobago.

"I've always been confident in my own ability," he continued. "The club has put their faith in me and I would like to think that I am repaying that faith.

"I'm enjoying the work that I am doing on the training pitch and that is being reflected in matches. Hopefully I can continue doing what I'm doing.

"Most importantly I am enjoying my football and we have two winnable games coming up that we are really looking forward to.

"We know that they will be tough, and we will keep our feet on the ground, but we play with freedom, particularly away from home, which is serving us well.

"We know the standards that we have set and if we stick to them, we will be okay."